


Hello, Halcyon Days

by tookumade



Series: Haikyuu!! Datekou Week - 2015 [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-25
Updated: 2015-05-25
Packaged: 2018-04-01 04:56:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4006609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tookumade/pseuds/tookumade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No matter where he walked in Sendai city, Aone was always given a wide berth. He supposed it made getting around places easier, but there was a sort of loneliness in how people gave him fearful looks and avoided him as much as they did.</p><p>(written for Haikyuu!! Datekou Week - Day 1 - first years, sound)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hello, Halcyon Days

No matter where he walked in Sendai city (or anywhere in Miyagi, really), Aone was always given a wide berth. He supposed it made getting around places easier, but there was a sort of loneliness in how people gave him fearful looks and avoided him as much as they did.  
  
Sometimes it wasn’t so bad when he walked with friends, but it really depended on the friends. Walking with people who gave a friendlier and/or more reassuring air, like Moniwa-san, Obara, or Sakunami-kun, often made Aone look less scary, and strangers didn’t avoid him like they were afraid he would snap and break their kneecaps. Walking with the likes of Kamasaki-san or Sasaya-san (or even Futakuchi when he was in one of his louder moods) was… a different story.  
  
Aone pretended not to notice as another elderly man—the third today—looked his way with wide eyes, clutched his bag, and then promptly crossed the road. Aone sighed. He might as well finish running his errands for his mother, then go home and make a start on his Japanese history essay.  
  
He had just stepped out of one of the sweets stores that stocked a particular brand of red bean cakes that his grandmother enjoyed, when he heard a young but familiar voice that pierced the crowd.  
  
“Nii-chan, _look!_ It’s Aone!”  
  
Hinata Shouyou and his little sister, Hinata Natsu, came into view. Shouyou looked surprised, but Natsu beamed as brightly as the sun, and broke away from her brother and dived towards Aone, who crouched down just in time for her to throw her tiny arms around him, squealing, “ _Aoneee!_ ”  
  
“ _Natsu!_ ” Shouyou spluttered, running up to them hastily. “Don’t just attack people like that!”  
  
“It’s fine,” said Aone, smiling a little now as Natsu released him and puffed her cheeks at her brother. “Natsu, have you grown taller?”  
  
Natsu nodded eagerly. “I’m gonna be taller than nii-chan soon.”  
  
“ _Hey,_ don’t count me out just yet!”  
  
“Aone, whatcha buying?”  
  
Aone opened his bag to show her his shopping. “Some errands for my mother,” he said. Natsu prodded at the contents with wide eyes.  
  
“ _Ohhh_ , nii-chan, let’s get cute cakes for mama!”  
  
“We could…” Shouyou looked at Aone and explained, “It’s our mother’s birthday soon, and we’re not sure what to get for her. I don’t have a lot of pocket money.”  
  
Aone looked thoughtful. “There are some good sales nearby…” he said slowly.  
  
Natsu grabbed Aone’s arm and tugged at it. “Come and shop with us, Aone,” she said. Aone looked at Shouyou, who shrugged and nodded.  
  
“Sure, if you have time. Let’s hang out,” he said.  
  
“ _Pleeease?_ ” Natsu lowered her voice conspiratorially. “Nii-chan doesn’t know what he’s doing.”  
  
Aone smiled again as Shouyou yelped an indignant “ _Hey!_ ”, and he stood up slowly. “All right,” he said.  
  
“ _Yeeahh!_ ” Natsu threw her hands up to hit a high-ten with her brother. Shouyou grinned at Aone.  
  
“Lead the way, I guess.”  
  
Aone pointed down the road. “There are a few stores down that way. We can start there.” He looked down at Natsu as she tugged on his jacket.  
  
“Can I have a piggy-back ride?” she asked.  
  
“Is that the real reason you wanted him to come along?” Shouyou tutted, pretending to look grumpy. He held onto Aone’s bag and shouldered it for him, as Aone dutifully crouched down again and Natsu scrambled onto his back, and they stood up. “Ah, you look like a gundam and gundam pilot!”  
  
“I’m taller than you, nii-chaaan,” said Natsu with grin. She gave a squeal as Shouyou poked her side playfully, and they both chorused an apology to Aone when Natsu accidentally kicked him in the ribs.  
  
“I have had worse at volleyball practice,” Aone assured them. And they set off.  
  
Some people gave them funny looks as they passed; Aone supposed it was an odd sight—a nearly 192cm scary-looking teenage boy, flanked by two much smaller but much more chipper orange-haired kids (one of whom was an adorable kindergarten-aged girl who sat upon his back like she belonged there), who chattered on like nothing was unusual—but, though people still ducked out of their way, there was now the absence of the frightened looks on their faces that Aone had gotten so used to, and he couldn’t help but smile a little. It was a nice change.  
  
They trooped through store after store, prodding at whatever caught their attention, and Natsu occasionally asking to be let down so she could have a closer look at the goods in the shops. Shouyou’s plan was to basically let Natsu direct them towards whatever colourful things she could spot, which worked well enough, though it wasn’t too helpful when the items were too far out of Shouyou’s budget, even if some of the storeowners did offer a small discount whenever they were enchanted enough by tiny Natsu looking up at them, bright-eyed and telling them that they were buying a gift for their mother.  
  
“Natsu,” said Shouyou a little over an hour later, looking up at her as they explored another street and Natsu was once again being given a piggy-back ride, “come down from there and let Aone rest a little, okay?”  
  
“Okaaay.” Natsu peered down at him. “But I’m hungry. Can I get a snack?”  
  
“There’s a dorayaki stand not far from here,” said Aone. “My treat.”  
  
“ _Uwaah_ , you’re going to become Natsu’s favourite brother at this rate!” said Shouyou as Natsu threw her fists in the air and cheered.  
  
A few minutes later, Aone bought them fresh and piping hot dorayaki, and Natsu immediately got to work on devouring hers while Aone and Shouyou leaned against a nearby unoccupied bicycle-rack and ate and chatted about their preparation for the upcoming Spring High tournament.  
  
“We’ll be going on a training camp in Tokyo soon,” said Shouyou, grinning, “so when we come back, we’ll be ready to go to the nationals!”  
  
Aone smiled. “We have a training camp, too,” he said. “We’ll stop you for sure.”  
  
“Your third years have left the team, right? How are you coping without them?”  
  
“It’s a little difficult,” Aone admitted, “but they still help and train with us, sometimes.”  
  
“Do they–”  
  
“ _Nii-chan!_ ” Natsu seized Shouyou’s sleeve with her free hand, her other hand still holding her unfinished dorayaki and waving to a direction down the street. “There’s a flower shop over there!”  
  
“Flower shop? I can’t afford a bouquet, Natsu.”  
  
“No, it’s a garden! Come _on!_ ” Natsu gave up on Shouyou, and instead latched onto Aone’s sleeve, and with surprising arm strength for someone so small, she hauled them down the street, cramming the rest of her dorayaki into her mouth determinedly. Aone just shrugged helplessly at Shouyou as they followed her.  
  
They stopped just a few metres later outside what turned out to be a small plant nursery. Several kinds of flora sprawled along the ground, each nestled in various pot sizes and shapes. Towards the back were a modest number of potted fruit trees, but towards the front were various flower cuttings, some not yet in bloom, accompanied by small signs which sported a picture of the flower type, and their prices, many of which fit Shouyou’s budget nicely.  
  
“ _Ohhh_ , this is a good idea!” said Shouyou, wide-eyed. “They’re not expensive, either. Okay, Natsu, go pick a type of flower for mama.”  
  
“ _Yeah!_ ” Natsu sprinted off. Aone and Shouyou watched her hmm and hum over the different plants.  
  
“Er, sorry for dragging you out for so long,” said Shouyou guiltily, looking up at Aone, who just shook his head.  
  
“I’m not in a rush. It’s been fun,” he said. The Hinata siblings were good company, with their warm voices and bright smiles and playful banter, and honestly, Aone had gotten so used to people _not_ looking at him fearfully, that he kind of dreaded going back to his daily routine of being avoided like he was a hoodlum. “It’s nice, hanging out like this sometimes.”  
  
“Aone–” Natsu ran up to them again and grabbed his hand and dragged him to a section of the flower cuttings. She pointed to a sign. “What does that one say?”  
  
“ _Camelia_ ,” said Aone slowly and deliberately.  
  
“And that one?”  
  
“ _Freesia_.”  
  
“And that one?”  
  
“ _Daffodil_ ,” said Aone. “Daff - oh - dil.”  
  
“Daff–” Natsu scrunched up her face in concentration. “Daff - duff - d–”  
  
“No, no, don’t do that,” said Shouyou hastily.  
  
“What about th–” Natsu’s eyes widened and her jaw fell open and she squawked an “ _Ohhh!_ ” that was uncannily like Shouyou’s, and she darted off again ( _Like brother, like sister_ , thought Aone). She stopped abruptly in front of a single potted sunflower and pointed at it excitedly and said, “This one!”  
  
“How did we miss that…” said Shouyou, stepping beside her, grinning.  
  
“It's her exact height,” said Aone.  
  
“This one’s like you, nii-chan. Mama’ll love it.”  
  
“Eh? Like _me?_ ”  
  
“Don’cha think so, Aone?”  
  
Aone lifted his hand, and after a moment of hesitation, ruffled her hair and said with a little smile, “It reminds me of both of you.” Natsu beamed.  
  
They bought the pot plant. Aone cradled it carefully in his arms and Natsu held onto Shouyou’s hand as they left the nursery. It was getting late, so they began making their way back to the train station, having done all their errands for the day. Along the way, Natsu and Aone chatted about what Datekou was like, and Shouyou occasionally dropped a comment, but for the most part, he listened contently and noted with a little smile how rare it was for Aone to speak so much, and how nice his voice sounded alongside Natsu’s—they were a complete contrast, but not in a bad way. Shouyou made a mental note to invite Aone to hang out a little more often.  
  
They arrived at the station earlier than any of them would have liked. Aone handed the sunflower over to Shouyou, but as he prepared to say his goodbyes for the day, Natsu tugged his sleeve, and Aone crouched down so she could lean in to speak in his ear.  
  
“Don’t tell nii-chan, but I wanna go to Datekou when I’m bigger,” Natsu whispered, and then covered her mouth as she giggled. Aone smiled.  
  
“I think you would do really well at Datekou,” he whispered back, and Natsu grinned toothily at him. “I won’t tell your brother.”  
  
“Tell me what?” said Shouyou suspiciously.  
  
“Nothing,” they chorused.  
  
Aone’s train began pulling into the station to his disappointment, but Natsu gave him one last big hug and said “Thanks for the dorayaki!”, which was almost worth it.  
  
“Let’s hang out after the training camps are over,” Shouyou called out as the train pulled to a stop and Aone lined up to board. Aone smiled and nodded and raised his hand in a wave. Natsu tugged on her brother’s jacket urgently.  
  
“Nii-chan, I wanna hang out too.”  
  
“Okay, okay–”  
  
“Bye Aoneee!”  
  
They waved as Aone boarded, and Natsu didn’t stop even when the doors shut behind him and the train pulled away from the station. She clutched Shouyou’s hand, still waving with her other, and her brother adjusted his one-handed hold on the sunflower pot plant, smiling. Aone watched as the siblings eventually shrunk in the distance until he couldn’t see them any longer, and he sat back against his seat and sighed somewhat wistfully, but still contently.  
  
Today had been a good day.

—————


End file.
